Quantcast
Channel: Greenwich Industrial History
Viewing all 561 articles
Browse latest View live
↧

Enderby House, Lay Lines, ourTelecom's Heritage - and what's going on??

January 24, 2019, 2:40 am
$
0
0



The Enderby Group has been refurbishing its web site - and adding a page about the new sculpture which is standing outside of Enderby House.  Here's the link - https://enderbywharf.wordpress.com/sculpture-lay-lines/

Now this raises a number of issues - but before that, what is the current situation at listed riverside Enderby House??

The house has been stabilised, renovated and made to look good on the outside and an extension built.  Doing this was a condition of the planning consent for the flats, etc. The developer brought in a firm of conservation architects to do the work to the satisfaction of inspections by Greenwich Conservation staff and Historic England.  BUT the inside of the house is still in a very rough state although thoroughly dried out and with some essential replacement of rotted or damaged elements. In short, ready for a tenant's fit-out.


Barratts - who, people may remember, were not the original developer,  were never particularly forthcoming about their plans for the future of the house . However all the indications were that the intended end use was for licensed premises and that any hopes the Enderby Group had for something different were not up for discussion.  We were eventually given to understand that a lease on Enderby use was being offered to Youngs brewery. As they began to prepare a licensing application for a public house there, a number of events on the Riverside nearby made this more problematic. Hopstuff were refused a licence for a bar at Riverside Gardens following public protests and we understands that people on Ballast Quay have been complaining about issues around the very old established Cutty Sark pub. Youngs do however have a reputation as extremely responsible pub managers.

The Council has granted a licence to Youngs for a public house at Enderbys but with a good many restrictions on outside and riverside drinking in order to meet concerns raised by residents in the flats around the house.   Before it can open there is a great deal of work to done on the interior of the house and we look forward to hearing what that will be. In the meantime Enderby Group has met with Youngs and the Council and hopes to continue to talk to Youngs about issues around the use of the house in addition to its use as a bar/restaurant  establishment to provide something for the new community growing up around it and also an reflect our concerns about the unique telecoms heritage here.

Having said all that - back to Lay Lines and the Riverside generally  - issues raised -

Lay Lines has been built because the installation of an artwork was part of the planning consent. So ....

  • We understand that similar requirements are in place for The Telegraph Works and Morden Wharf South but are there  similar requirement on other Riverside sites and developers?

  • What plans do organisations like  Visit Greenwich have to publicise such works?

  • Are there plans to link this work with those installed via the Now Gallery by Knight Dragon.

Enderby Group members - Stewart Ash in particular - have worked hard to help with this project to fruition and to ensure the historical information is accurate.  One feature of it is the QR tags which will provides online interpretation of sites.
  • This sort of scheme could be extended around the Riverside on the Greenwich Peninsula. 
QR tag used at Enderbys

  • What is being done by the Heritage Trust and Visit Greenwich to achieve this??
  • Will they work with the Enderby Group and use their in depth historical knowledge and experience.
  • And of course all the other Riverside sites in Greenwich between Deptford and Thamesmead 

Meanwhile we have some news of how our work on Greenwich's telecoms heritage is progressing:.

Issue 104 of SubTel Forum has now been published.   https://subtelforum.com/products/subtel-forum-magazine/

Stewart tells us that his article on John Pender and Daniel Gooch is on pages 48-53, which includes a brief description of Lay Lines.  There is also a short article by Bill Burns on pages 24-25(who runs http://atlantic-cable.com/)

 He is also speaking about John Pender to the Bromley Chapter of retired Institute of Engineering & Technology at Bromley Central Library on 5 March 2019

and also at the Greater Manchester Archeological Festival 2019: Telecommunications Heritage Conference http://www.engagingwithcommunications.com/events/salford_telecoms_heritage_conference.html   on Saturday 22 June 2019


↧
Search

Newsletters, News and stuff

February 4, 2019, 12:02 am
$
0
0
A few notes abour events and so on


GLIAS Newsletter 300

G|LIAS current lecture series
27th February, Mildred Cookson on Roller Flour Mills of London
20th March Tony Riley on London’s Lost Railway Termini
17th April Graham Dolan. Ripples in Time. The Building of Greenwich Power Station and the Unintended Consequences for the Royal Observatory. This is a repeat of the lecture which Graham gave to GIHS last year. It is a very important and interesting lecture and everybody who didn’t hear it in Greenwich should rush up to hear it at GLIAS
15th May AGM (6.15) plus Richard Albanese from Trinity Buoy Wharf.  Again – GIHS heard Richard talk about Trinity Buoy Wharf last month. He is a wonderful speaker on an important local; subject. Go and hear him at GLIAS!
All lectures at 6:30 in the Alan Baxter Ltd gallery 75 Cowcross Street EC1 (round the back and downstairs) See www.glias.org.uk

GLIAS list many other events around London – here are some which may be of interest to Greenwich industrial historians

6th February. Old Rotherhithe. A Docklands History Group film show by Darren Knight 5.30 Museum of London Docklands
12th of February. TFL’s Rail Activities in 2018. This is at the London Underground Railway Society 7.15 Upper Room, All Souls Clubhouse, 141 Cleveland Street, W1
24th February. Low Tide Walk through Deptford creek.  11 am. Creekside Discovery Centre, 14 Creekside SE8
6th March. Riverside Archaeology and Finds. Talk by Jane Sidell. 5.30 Museum of London Docklands
29th March Joseph Bazelgette’s Birthday Party at London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road EC1. It’s free that you need to book www.eventbright.co.uk/e/joseph-bazalgettes-birthday-party-tickets-53146795496
30th March Low Tide walk through Deptford creek 2-4 pm (as above)
31st March. Crossness. Public Steaming day 10.30 -4 Bazalgette Way, Abbey Wood, SE2 wwww.crossness.org.uk
4th April. The Thames River Police.  London Canal Museum talk b/y Martin Wells 7:30 pm 12- 13 New Wharf Road, N1
7th April. Three Mills, House Mill guided tour. -  £4. Three Mill Lane Bromley by Bow E3 - that’s behind Tesco on the Blackwall Tunnel Approach

Elsewhere in the GLIAS Newsletter is an article asking for information about the building in Lewisham High Street which is now the Lewisham Local History Library. What was it before it became a library?

----------------------

Lewisham Local History Society have sent us their current program
22th February. Mike Brown on the Blitz on Crofton Park
29th March AGM followed by a presentation from Voluntary Auction Lewisham
26th April. Mike Guilfoyle. Some of Lewisham’s Chosen Few - which about people buried in Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery.
31st May Bethelem Royal Hospital in Beckenham
28 June John King on Grove Park in the Great War
All talk to the Methodist Church Hall Albion Way SE 13 7.45

We also have a copy of Lewisham Local History Society Journal No 26 for 2018.  It doesn’t have any articles directly about Greenwich but there is one by Julian Watson on Abraham Colfe. Lewisham benefactor.   Also Carol Harris, Brockley Green to Crofton Park and Diana Beamish on A Teacher, a Carpenter and my family.

Sadly the Lewisham newsletter has on the front page an obituary to John Kennedy Melling.  GIHS members may remember a very memorable talk by him on the Noakesoscope. - a projection system made in Greenwich.

---------------------------

Bromley Local History society meetings

5th February. Pam Preedy on Homes for Heroes – Bromley Garden City
5th March Chris Burton on early and quirky Brixton
2nd April. Elizabeth Haynes. Researching the murder of Harriett Monkton
All meetings 7.45 at Trinity United Reform Church, Freelands Road, Bromley

-----------------------------------------


Greenwich Society Newsletter 2019

We are very pleased to see that the Greenwich Society has published an article by Richard Buchanan on Enderby Wharf and Enderby house in which he ices some of the background and history of the house along with details of the current situation on its refurbishment and the Lay Lines sculpture

Some other articles –
There are some details from Wendy Foreman of the current projects at St Alfege's Church including work in the crypt
They advertise a fundraising event for the Cutty Sark for its 150th Anniversary.  This is on the is on the 2nd of April, costs £65, and included two course meal and entertainments,
There is an article by Pieter Van der Merwe about the gibbets which he says were on Greenwich waterside sites and give some grisly pictures of corpses hanging near North Greenwich. She notes the Lay Lines sculpture and the now abandoned cruise liner sites. She continues to Morden Wharf and notes plans for development there and the proposed loss of Primrose Pier. She also covers Victoria Deep Water Wharf, the golf driving range and work which is about to start on a new music and events venue to called magazine nearer to the Dome
The newsletter also comments on the derelict toilet block on Blackheath

---------------------------------------

We have news from the Docklands History Group of their conference on the medieval port of London on the 18th of May at the Museum of London

Programme
Gustav Milne – The Medieval Port of London - an overview
Professor Vanessa Harding – City and Port - merchants and overseas trade
Dr. Damian Goodburn – Ships and boats of the medieval port
Dr. John Schofield – Medieval waterfront buildings
Alderman Alison Gowman - The Hanseatic Steelyard
Dr. Laura Wright – Language and London Bridge
John Clark – The Medieval Thames: rubbish tip, accident black spot, or sacred river?
Nathalie Cohen – The Fishful Thames: the Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods
For further information on the Conference and how to book a place, please visit our website at www.docklandshistorygroup.org.uk


-------------------------------

We would also remind people of the South East Region Industrial Archaeology Conference this year hosted by Kent Archaeological Society and to be held at Dartford Grammar school on the 13 April book through Mike Clinch mike@,mikeclimch.co.uk 

--------------------------------

We understand there is interest in the old barrage balloon site at Kidbrooke. If anyone has memories or something else about the sire, please get in touch

-------------------------

500 Years of Deptford and Woolwich Royal Dockyards. We have a copy of a special edition of the Transactions of the Naval Dockyards Society. There are some very important papers here and hey demand a thorough review - this will be on this site soon.
↧
↧

Naval Dockyards in Deptford and Woolwich - Conference Report

February 10, 2019, 3:39 am
$
0
0



That excellent organisation, the Naval Dockyards Society, has now produced an important report on a conference held at the National Maritime Museum in 2013 – “500 Years of Deptford and Woolwich Dockyards" - officially the Transactions of the Society (Vol 11 Jan 2019). So what’s inside it?

First paper in the report is by NDS Chair Ann Coats and gives a resume of the history of the dockyards and their subsequent existence. She looks at the current planning processes for both of them – in particular at Deptford where there is still a live planning application whereas Woolwich, as people will know, has had housing on the site for many years. She also looks at what remains from the dockyards including items like the Woolwich Dockyard church which was re-erected in Eltham, were it remains.

Next we have Philip McDougal with a paper entitled the Naval Multiplex of Kentish London - and he’s right, we do need to remember the both the Dockyards were in the County of Kent.  He describes how the establishment of the two Dockyards led to other government owned industrial units being set up in the area = including the ropery at Woolwich and the victualling yard, very much later of course, at Deptford. In Greenwich there were institutions with an emphasis on science and health in the Royal Hospital and the Observatory. He describes how over the centuries changes, not just in society and politically, but also issues like silting in the river led to changes to the Dockyards. He mentions also the importance of the Arsenal to the Navy in supply of Ordnance. This is a detailed paper – and my summary above does it little justice and leaves out much of what he raises.  It leads us to other issues about which we will hopefully hear more in future years.-

Of course the dockyards we’re not the only shipbuilders in this part of London. There were private ship construction yards of Deptford - and of course throughout the surrounding area – ships were built here not just for the Navy but for private companies. Chris Ellmers’s paper was on Deptford’s private shipyards and their relationship to the dockyards between 1790 and 1819. He points out that in the late 18th- early 19th centuries private shipyards in Deptford built not only merchant sailing ships but also warships. He looks at the Dudman’s Yard in Grove Street and Wells and also Barnard in Deptford Green pointing out that they provided one of the nation’s major concentrations of shipbuilding. He gives a great deal of information about these yards and their relationships to the dockyards and how they built large warships.  This is a fascinating paper and easily my favourite in the set. There is a great deal of detail about the ships built and he also discusses the workforce and its skill base. We should not underestimate their contribution to the labour movement. Chris reminds us in discussing workplace organisation that these large workplaces existed here at a time when large factories in other trades elsewhere in the country barely existed.  Chris talks also about ship launches, the impact of the Napoleonic wars, and much else. An important and very interesting paper.

The paper by Peter Cross Rudkin is on John Rennie and the Naval Dockyards 1806- 1821.  It looks at Rennie’s career generally and in particular his role in the dockyards. However, to be honest, it does not say much about Deptford or Woolwich.  it discusses issues like contractors and the context within which Rennie worked in both technical and economic terms but his work at Deptford is described as ‘minor but tricky’ and his work at Woolwich was 'limited'.  However his role as consultant engineer is seen as key in this period.

Mark Stevenson is well known locally as our contact with Historic England. In his paper he looked at the regeneration of the dockyards in a planning context. He also describes his role in the emergence of SHARP which is it an international body which co-ordinates the histories of arsenals and other major historic government military sites manufacturing sites.  He discuss in detail how the planning process has impacted on the two dockyard sites we have locally. This is interesting and extremely informative.

The paper by Duncan Hawkins discusses the archaeological investigations at Convoys Wharf and the work done there. We have of course had a recent detailed report on this work but some this is an important summary of work undertaken at Deptford by the archaeologists

Finally there is a paper by Chris Maseika. People will know Chris from the Shipyards Palace in Deptford. The paper is “Mapping the Built Environment of the former Royal Dockyard at Deptford.  I do think we must very much be grateful to Chris, and Willi, the amount of work they have done on this issue and others. He outlines the changes which have taken place since the closure of the yard but then moves on to a discussion of the architecture and provenance of some of the buildings. He gives much detail about the architectural provenance of officers’ accommodation and relates it to the development English domestic architecture. This is the fascinating paper which in its originality opens up whole world of possible connections and gives us new insights into the dockyards and their past history - which is not always just about building and repairing warships

This is an important collection of papers about out local Royal Dockyards and raises important issues which are not just about naval ship construction but the influence of them on the society in which we live in today.  We need to be aware that the Naval Dockyards were more than just places visited by Samuel Pepys and where Nelson’s Navy was built but that they had a long existence as workplaces, manufacturing units with a multiplicity of contacts and influences as well a national and international resonance.
Contact Ann Coats for details and copies. anncoats49@gmail.com

↧

David Cuffley on bricks - and also come and hear him next Tuesday

February 14, 2019, 11:28 pm
$
0
0

GIHS Meeting on 19th - next Tuesday - we are welcoming David Cuffley who is going to speak 
about Discovering history of a house -case study Salutation Alley Woolwich

David works hard for the North West Kent Family History Society - and is a big expert on brick manufacture.  He is a big support to GIHS and has helped us with many queries about bricks and buildings over the year

Recently he was asked about bricks and Placentua Palace in Greenwich. I thought you should see his reply. (which I've edited a bit).



"Approximate locations of brickworks used to supply bricks to Placentia Palace.

You ask if ‘bricks were manufactured in East Greenwich and transported by barge and cart’.  The location East Greenwich is not one I recognise for a brickfield,. You should see John Musty’s article ‘Brick Kilns and Brick and Tile Suppliers to Hampton Court’ published in The Archaeological Journal 147, 1990, which wikll give you some help understanding the brickmaking industry in the 16th century. 

Musty refers to RICHARD RECOLVER (sometimes RECULVER) of Greenwich working on Hampton Court, Greenwich Palace and St John’s College. My interpretation of the of ‘Greenwich’ is either he was from Greenwich or that he acquired that suffix from having worked on Greenwich Palace for such a long construction period rather only a season (April to October).  My best guess that he was an itinerant brickmaker who came to projects to make bricks rather having his own kiln and transporting the bricks to the site. If Richard Reculver was an itinerant brickmaker I would expect him to be clamp burning bricks rather than have a permanent kiln structure. One small problem is the terms ‘clamp’ and ‘Kiln’ are frequently mixed/misused in old records. However clamps were widely used in this part of Kent right up to Dawson’s brickfield in the late 19th century at East Wickham. 

The Hampton Court records note some brickmakers delivered their bricks to the site and Musty says these were local brickmakers with some others as far away as Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire; 40 miles. My rule of thumb for brick transport by cart is 5 miles out loaded and then back in a day.  Part of the reason for lots of rural brickfields that are difficult to precisely locate, except by parish name.
Greenwich had one major advantage for brick transport and that’s the river. As an example Vanburgh Castle next to Greenwich Park in the 18th century used bricks from as far away as Fulham and Maidstone on the Medway. These were delivered by barge and then carted up to the site from the river. The accounts give names and details.

If you look at Nathaniel Lloyd’s ‘English Brickwork’ and his table of Brick measurements you will notice his c1520 Hampton Court –East side of clock tower were 8 7/8”-*1/2” x 41/2”-4” x 2” thick and were laid 4 courses to 10”, Deep Red in colour. He also records St Johns College- gateway tower as late 15th century 81/4”x41/2”x21/4” with 4 courses to 111/2 the authority for this he gives as Sir R Blomfield, (Hist. Renaiss. Arch. England p351). 

Two things you might like to check firstly is the brick sizes in the college you are interested in.  If Richard Reculver made the bricks at both places I would expect them to be the same size, although different clays might dictate otherwise. Secondly the quality of the brick as the wide 4 course height and bed joint thickness may indicate a more irregular brick shape. If your research shows similar quality and size bricks then perhaps Richard Reculver was the main brickmaker and this would be the type of brick you should be finding at Greenwich-Placentia Palace. 

None of the excavation reports I have managed to find since receiving your email record the bricks found. If you have any details I would love to receive them.
You also ask if Kentish Rag could have been used. If this is so then the river would have been the transport method fromt the aidstone area via easy access on the Medway. There are still Ragstone quarries at Barming, Kent providing ragstone for roads etc..  My experience in the construction industry; over 40 years; is that stone arrived on site cut and shaped with only adjustments made to ensure each section matched properly. Now stone being heavy I would expect worked sizes were easier to move but could be subject to damage especially in the pre industrial age. In large historic projects I have seen where a stone masons yard was set up adjacent to the building. Raw material was brought into the yard and shaped stone lifted into position. At one repair project I worked on in Brighton I spent a day watching the stone mason shape a new section to match the adjacent stones. A really magic piece of work and gave me a lot of respect for their trade.
To the best of my knowledge there were no Architects in this period, the designers were the builders/building contractor. The brickmaker would have undertaken to make bricks for the project and be paid per 1000 bricks made and burnt. For this he would have employed a team of moulders and labourers he paid out of his money. 

A practice that continued into the 19th century was where a berth or stool of six people worked as a team and bwere paid by the brickmaker/moulder. The setting out and laying of bricks is done by the trade of Bricklayer which is not the same and should not be confused with the brickmaker. Building to a set pattern is not a surprise because that’s the tradition of timber frame buildings, i.e. Weald House. My understanding is most of the work was done by rules of thumb the sizing of piers, walls etc. were all done by trade and previous experience.  I also expect but have no proof or reference that the stone supplier for the window reveals would offer styles and sized members/elements he and is workers were familiar with and knew the stone spans could withstand.
All itinerant workers lived on site up to the early 20th century.   Sydney Twist in his book about Faversham Brickmakers talks of brickmakers living on site in hovels formed with un-mortared brick structures. There are stories in newspapers of brickmakers who found tramps in their hovels pushing the structures down on top of them, killing those inside. Brickmakers were a rough lot, of which some of my ancestors are included.
You ask if Dutch bricklayers involved. I don’t know but I do have brickmakers in the early references in my index with surnames such as ‘Flemyng’, ‘Docheman’, ‘Holland’, ‘Tiler’ and ‘Brykeman’ all 13th to pre 17th century.

↧

Sir Joseph Bazalgette and Deptford Pumping Station

April 5, 2019, 4:08 am
$
0
0
SIR JOSEPH BAZALGETTE 
AND
DEPTFORD PUMPING STATION

Photo R.J.M.Carr


28th March was the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sir Joseph Bazalgette.  He was the Engineer to the 19th century Metropolitan Board of Works - and is most famous for building the London sewage system (and a lot of other things).

On 28th the this year there was a big party down at Crossness Engines - where the sewage from south London all ends up.  People there got a chance to see Busy Basil renamed as Bazalgette - and bits of the new railway, and lots more.




Because of the anniversary a wrote a piece for 'Greenwich Weekender about the works which Bazalgette actually built in Greenwich - Crossness is in Bexley, but only just!

My Weekender article was in their 3rd April edition - and it is on line digitally if you hadn't seen it in print.  https://www.weekender.co.uk/digital-edition/

The main building which Bazalgette built which is actually in Greenwich is the hidden-away Deptford  pumping station in Greenwich High Road/Norman Road.  This was actually the first building in place for the system - as Mick Delap has just discovered - and has sent me a whole lot of wonderful pictures to prove it. Sadly these have come too late for the Weekender article, so I am putting them below.

I would have thought that the Greenwich High Road pumping station is something we should all be proud of.  It is an amazing and very important listed building - along with a huge decorative iron coal store.  Some of it has recently been done up by the Thames Tideway people who are on part of the site.

I never see any mention of it by the Greenwich Society, or the Council, or anyone about how it is one of our major buildings.  So - come on - lets talk about it.   The Tideway people are going to have some open days soon. So lets all go down and admire what we have,


Here are Mick Delap's pictures - and congratulations to him for a lot of hard work,





and - finally - I know this is a bit of blowing my own trumpet and stuff - but I don't know who sees the articles I've done for Weekender.  So - hope you don't mind - here's a list - all on the digital website https://www.weekender.co.uk/digital-edition/


3rd April Bazalgette and Deptford Pumping station
27th March  White Hart Depot
13th March Smells on the Peninsula
6th March Our Poor Doomed Gasholder
1st March 2019 Early copperas industry in Deptford - Nicholas Crispe
6th February 2019 William Joyce shipbuilder
10th October 2018 A world of industrial remains
5th September 2018 The accident at Blackwall Point Power Station
8th August 2018 Women gas workers
16th July 2018 The Charlton, and other, pits
13th June 2018 Sir John Pender - review of book by Stewart Ash
16th May 2018 The Greenwich Harbour Master
18th April 2018 The History of the (gas) holder
21st March 2018 The Greenwich bicycle pioneers
21st February 2018 The Man who built the railway - George Landmann
24th January 2018 The man who built the railway
6th December 2017 The tragic death of Mary Mahoney - killed on her first day at the gunpowder factory.
1st November 2017 Rope- Picking up the strands of our rich history.
3rd October 17th century Woolwich kiln. Gone but not forgotten

↧
↧

My Father’s Work Experiences at Tunnel Glucose,

April 13, 2019, 12:07 am
$
0
0

My Father’s Work Experiences at Tunnel Glucose
Tunnel Avenue, East Greenwich.



My father, Percy McDougal, was born in 1908 in Siebert Road, Blackheath, the youngest of five children. He left school at the age of 14 and did a variety of jobs including shop work and painting and decorating.  In 1932 he married my mother Doris Hughes and at that time he was working as a shop assistant. By 1935 he had joined Tunnel Glucose and gradually worked his way up the ladder until he became works superintendent. This being his position when he left the company in 1954.

During the 1930’s he made several trips to the company’s parent factory in Alost, Belgium. At that time travel was limited to taking the train to Dover and then ferry to Ostend in order to catch another train to Alost. It was during one of these trips to Belgium that he fell out with management due to the toilet facilities available. The rule in the Belgium factory was that all toilets that the workers used were not fitted with doors. It was considered necessary in order for the workers to be seen taking their toilet break. There was much fear amongst local management that workers would use the toilets as an excuse to skip off to have a smoke. Smoking at the place of work was of course not allowed on hygiene grounds. My father objected strongly that he was not prepared to give up his privacy when the call of nature came. Thus, he made a stand for him to use the same toilets as the Senior Management as they had doors which could be closed when in use. I understood from him that my father won the day but totally upset the company’s Belgium managers.

Tower Julie delivering grain from Amsterdam 1970s
photo Pat O'Driscoll
By the time the second world war started my father was on the way up and in mid forties he had been appointed works foreman. This enabled our family to move from the rented upstairs flat in Chevening Road to a house at the top of Tunnel Avenue, a few doors down from the Fire Station.  My cousin told me many years after my father died that he was the first in our family to buy their own home and to have both a tv and a telephone.

The TV was great but the telephone only seemed to ring when my father was needed out of hours to deal with some kind of works emergency. He was forever being contacted to rush back on his bicycle to handle a manufacturing problem which had stopped production. As a process industry the operation was 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. Now we knew why we had a phone. My father was on 24-hour callout.

One specific incident I can recall is when he was called out one night to deal with a major problem with a tanker that had crashed in Blackwall Tunnel. This was before the additional tunnel we have today. Therefore, there was just one access through the old Victorian tunnel under the Thames.This was the only major road artery connecting north and south London.  It was a long way upstream to Tower Bridge and the Woolwich Ferry was very limited and time consuming. The Tunnel Glucose tanker in question had crashed in the tunnel and spilled its entire load across the road. Blackwall Tunnel was completely blocked and the sticky mess would take hours to clean up and let the traffic flow as normal. My father spent all night and most of the next day on the emergency which was so serious that it made the newspapers. There were no TV crews then as there are today but if there were Percy may well have been interviewed and asked to explain what was being done to resolve this massive disruption to road communications. 

Amongst my fondest memories was the times my father used to bring us home ‘sweets’. Sweets were still on ration so in very short supply. The ‘sweets’ that he brought for my younger brother and I were not bought in shops.  They were yummy slabs of solid glucose which had been produced in the company’s laboratory as part of pre-production testing. They were very hard, crunchy and probably didn’t do our teeth much good but to two young boys they were heavenly gifts of luxury.

Another great memory was my first trip in an aeroplane. In 1953 my father had to make a business trip to the factory in Alost. He decided to take an extra week in Alost as holiday so took my mother, my brother and I with him. We flew from Heathrow when I was allowed chewing gum when we took off and landed. The family stayed in the same hotel my father stayed at before the war and we had a marvellous time whilst he worked hard. Other first experiences were drinking Coca Cola and chocolate milk shake, riding in shiny black Chevrolet and Citroen cars and admiring ‘plus fours ‘which all the children wore. My father refused vigorously my request to bring a pair back to the UK. My thanks to Tunnel Glucose for this wonderful opportunity to travel abroad.

Towards the end of my father’s tenure several things happened to Tunnel Glucose. One was the change of name to Tunnel Refineries and the other was being merged or taken over by a company called Glenville’s. I believe that my father was one of the few people who had stayed on and helped the skeleton staff to survive the difficult wartime. He was not called up as he worked in a protected job and had been totally committed to the company having worked there for nearly 20 years.

Management changes to operating policy was too much for my father to handle so he handed in his notice although he was asked several times to reconsider his decision. He left Tunnel Refineries in the summer of 1954.The same year the family moved to Swindon where he and my mother bought a grocer’s shop. He had returned to his earlier role when he and my mother had first met.

I visited the works on several occasions during the early 1950’s some good experiences some not so good but I will expand on these visits in other memories of Tunnel Glucose and living in Tunnel Avenue.
Tunnel Glucose as Amylum fromm the river 1990
photo Peter Luck



 Graham McDougal

5thApril 2019

↧

Belated news

April 18, 2019, 1:05 am
$
0
0

I'm sorry that nothing has been on here in the way of news for some time, very remiss...………...


So what have we got?
Crossness Engines.  We ought to congratulate Crossness Engines on the big party they had to celebrate Joseph Bazalgette's 200th birthday.  this was a great event with all sorts of people including the Mayor of Greenwich and Peter Bazalgette's (the great man's great grandson) and many more. The event included a ceremony to rename a locomotive ' Bazalgette' in preparation for their new railway.  More on that elsewhwere


We have been sent a copy of an excellent new book of photographs of Thamesmeand called 'The Town of Tomorrow. 50 Years of Thamesmead'. I'm not going to pretend that the book is particularly industrial but it does have pictures of building work on the site as well as pictures of the inhabitants and the houses. There is also an essay on the town and how it came to be built. Its a great local book about our area and we should all read it.

The Medieval Port of London.  This is the subject of a conference organised by the Docklands History Group to be held at the Museum of London on 18 May.  It looks like being a great events and if you haven't booked already information is on the Docklands History Group website; www.docklandhistorygroup.org.uk


GLIAS Newsletter April 2019
There is nothing about Greenwich per se in the newsletter but there are lots and lots events you can go to.
15th May GLIAS AGM. this is followed by a talk on Trinity Buoy Wharf and the proposed historic ships collection for London. This is very relevant to us as Trinity Buoy Wharf is just across the river from the Peninsula.  It is at The Gallery 75 Cowcross Street EC1 -opposite Farringdon Station and very accessible now we have trains which go to St.Pancras, 6.15.

The Brunel Engine House is holding a series of events to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Sir Marc Brunel. 
24th April.  Talk by Robert Hulse, the director of the Brunel Museum on the Tunnel. Brunel Engine House- just behind Rotherhithe Station. 7.45
29th May Thames Tideway Project Director of Mike Sawyer on London's Super Sewers. 7.30
26the June FOGWOFT'S Ian Blore on London's Forgotten Foot Tunnel at Woolwich. visit and walk
Details www.rbhistory.org.uk

Other talks from the GLIAS Newsletter which might be of interest to Greenwich

27th April Low tide walk through Deptford Creek. Creekside Discovery Centre 40 Creekside SE8  www.creeksidecentre.org.uk
5th May. Crossness Engines public steaming. Bazalgette Way. 10.30-4. www.crossness.org.uk
5th May House Mill guided tour £4  Three Mills Lane, Bromley by Bow E3  (behind Tesco) www.housemill.org.uk
11th May Trevithick Day at Dartford.  Dartford Central Park 10-5 www.trevithickindustrialdartford.co.uk
12th May Low Tide walk through for Deptford Creek as above
19th May House Mill to tour as above

The Woolwich and District Antiquarian Society Newsletter is packed full of information.  First some dates
11th May Woolwich Women at War by Steve Hookins. Woolwich Antiquarians Charlton House 2 pm
8th June Iron Men, Henry Maudsley by Ian Waller. Charlton House 2 pm
6th July Royal Greenwich four World War One VCs Jim Marrett. Charlton house 2 pm

27th April James Ellis, Charlton developer by Barbara Holland Charlton Society. Charlton House  2.30 www.charltonsociety.org
18th May Brigadier M Richads of Charlton. Military and industrial historian.by Peter Guillery Charlton Society. Charlton House  2.30 www.charltonsociety.org
15th June Charlton Society Summer party at Woolwich Garrison church

We are also pleased to see the announcement that the Falconwood Miniature Railway has had a stay of eviction until the autumn.  The railway will therefore then run on: 21st April, 5th & 19th May, 2nd,16th, 30th June, 14,28 July, 11th,25th August, 8,22 September, 6th October.  The railway is behind the electricity transmission station on Falconwood Way. www.wdmes.co.uk

There many other items covered by WADAS - in addition to their AGM report and Chair's Report for 2018. There is also a conservation report - most items of which will have been dealt elsewhere here.

Also and as well .................

The Prince Philip Maritime Collection Centre.  This is a bit of a mystery. There has been a store for the Maritime Museum for a long time in Kidbrook. They were in a building which dated from the Second World War - said by them to be a hospital although this seems unlikely (let's see your evidence!) This has been replaced by a grand new building but it seems very difficult to find anything out about it. You can see it from the motorway by the bend at the Kidbrooke turn off. It is said to include a Visitor Centre but its very unclear when it can be visited.  The old building was stuffed full of really really interesting items and a was very very large collection. WADAS reports one of their members having a snoop round and getting nowhere but have also had a report which says there are millions of items in the collection and all are recorded on the computer but are taking time to shift into the new building. You can't just turn up and knock on the door - you have to book. So let's see.

The Antiquarians also report on the QR (quick response) tag system. This is something which the Enderby Group has been taking up and it has been installed on the Lay Lines sculpture at Enderby House. It is a system where you can dial up on your Smart phone to get more information about the site. Enderby Group has been trying to interest the various Greenwich tourist organisations - Visit Greenwich and so on - in setting up something wider but without much success.  Chamber of Commerce are now interested. Of course there are problems which will need to be overcome - but if people work together the borough could do something, and with the help of local societies rather than expensive consultants.

Covered Market and the listing of the Lamella roof. This listing has meant the market cannot be demolished as the developer had planned (despite the consultant, Alan Baxter's, report to keep it) It also appears likely that a new conservation area will keep the frontage of shops along Plumstead Road which the developer again had wanted to demolish.

Charlton Riverside. As people the development scheme was turned down and this refusal was endorsed by the London Mayor. It is understood local residents are getting together to try ensure development is suitable for the site and local people

41 Kings Highway. This is a property with a horse and cart through passage which may have led to a stable. The owner wanted to convert it into a room. Refusal was backed by a local campaign and the local conservation officer it means that he is likely to be Listed

Greenwich Mural Workshop is bidding for funding to renew the benches around about what was the Rathmore Community Centre which are 30 years old and originally designed by them

Finally there is a  report on Richard Buchanan's street furniture talk which he gave to GIHS  and more on that to come

----------------------
These days there is a lot of industrial history online - when GIHS started this was a lone voice - but now its everywhere! Always happy to give publicity if people ask - otherwise it gets quite difficult trying to keep up.
↧

Greenwich's Black 'Ole

April 29, 2019, 1:05 am
$
0
0

Greenwich’s secret war time location. 
‘The Black ‘Ole’ in Tunnel Glucose.


Unless you worked at the Tunnel Glucose factory during or shortly after the Second World War you might not know what the ‘Black ‘Ole ‘was. It certainly was not a hole but it was really black as I can personally vouch. My father, who worked at Tunnel Glucose from 1935 until 1954, used to tell me anecdotes about the war time work carried out there. Even after the war finished the ‘Black ‘Ole’ continued to operate and I visited it several times with my father to see and wonder at the fantastic colours and experience the acrid smells that were being produced.

What was the ‘Black ‘Ole’ you ask. Very simple it was the location of a massive crucible that smelted down scrap metal at extremely high temperatures to produce magnesium. As this then went into the production of armour plating for armoured vehicles e.g. tanks etc. it was classified as a reserved occupation. Therefore, my father was not called up but both he and my mother became members of the Auxiliary Fire Service which helped fight the fires that resulted from bombings during and after ‘The Blitz’.

My uncle Dick worked in the ‘Black ‘Ole ‘after the war and I used to see him labouring in the filthy, baking hot environment. In the middle of this old building was the crucible full of molten meatal which was positioned over a massive furnace. The smelted metal would be poured into waiting receptacles and at that point there were sparks everywhere lighting up the dark and dismal work area which was full of black soot. So, it became commonly known as the ‘Black ‘Ole’. We often visited my uncle and aunty who lived in Dupree Road and was used to see him bathing in a tin tub in front of the fire. He was always known to my brother and I as ‘Dirty’ Dick due to the dirty condition he came home in after work. My father used to really tell us off if we referred to my uncle as anything other than Uncle Dick. As an ex-soldier my uncle joined the Corps of Commissionaire when the smelting process closed and he subsequently got a job as a security guard on the main works gate at Tunnel Glucose.

One of the other stories my late father used to tell me was about the time he had a visit from a scrap metal merchant during the war. The person trying to sell the scrap to the works manager asked my father to give his boss a box of cigars which was a gift from the supplier. My father duly took the present into his boss but before he went in, he noticed the seal on the box was broken. Being a nosy person, my father opened the lid to find that one of the cigars was missing and in its place was a roll of banknotes the same size as a cigar. He duly closed the lid and on entering his boss’s office handed the box over and left the supplier to start the negotiations with his boss on the value of the scrap metal. My father was never sure what the quality of the scrap was and what it would have yielded for the war effort.

My father was not necessarily always an innocent party during the war as confirmed by another tale he told me of an event that happened during a fire in the East End. As mentioned previously he was in the AFS and was called out to a major fire in a bonded warehouse. On arriving at the scene, he and his crew were advised by the police on duty that if they looked in the fire hydrants when fixing their hoses, they might find something of interest. Being a bonded warehouse full of alcohol I will leave the details of their finds to your imagination. Quite a few people were seen leaving the building clutching its contents!

Very fond memories and I am sure that my father had many more tales to tell .

Graham McDougal

1 May 2019
↧
Search

More bits of news

April 30, 2019, 5:32 am
$
0
0


Congratulations to Woolwich and District Antiquarian Society on the on the publication of an Occasional Paper (No. 5)  called "Sweets and Schooldays'  and is a series of reminiscences from WADS members on the sweets they ate and the schools they went to.

At the last GIHS meeting Richard Buchanan told us about street furniture in Greenwich and Woolwich.  A report of a talk  by Richard on this subject was given in a recent WADAS newsletter .

SO - the other reason for congratulating WADAS is that at last they have got a web site!!  The report of Richards talk can thus be read at https://woolwich-antiquarians.org/newsletter

FOGWOFT
On Monday night was the Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Greenwich and Woolwich Foot Tunnels.  They seem to have got a bit bogged down in trying to get new bylaws passed  - the scheme seems to be held up in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.  One report to the meeting was about a plan for a cycle crossing at Rotherhithe this is for a bridge, but there is apparently an alternative plan for electric ferries run by the Thames Clipper people.  See http://www.pla.co.uk/assets/session302geoffsymonds.pdf.

We also understand that the Woolwich Foot Tunnel is to become end of the English Coast path. See http://www.pla.co.uk/assets/session205fracescasanchez.pdf  We also understand that Ian Blore is to lead an walk through the tunnel for the organisers of this initiative. Details soon.


ANGERSTEIN FOOT CROSSING
There had been a bit of a kerfuffle in Westcombe Park and Charlton through the abrupt threat of closure of the Angerstein foot crossing by Network Rail.  The Angerstein railway itself can only be known to a few people in the Borough and the foot crossing itself only known by the few hundred people who use it on a daily basis.  A bridge to the crossings runs from Westcombe Park station across the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Motorway. an article about these should appear in the w
Weekender in due course. In the meantime Network Rail changes their collective mind about immediate closure plans following a petition set up by the Westcombe Society, a letter and phone calls from our MP Matt Pennycook, and a letter from the Council legal department!1

NEW DRAWDOCK
We understand or that there is plan to re-build a draw dock at Riverside Gardens (that is what people used to call Lovell's Wharf or Greenwich Wharf).   I think that was a drawdock originally set up by the Greenwich Board of Works in the 19th century. More info would be good.



ARCHAELOGY
We understand that archaeological work is about to start on Building 10th Southern block, Royal Arsenal.  See: file:///C:/Users/Mary%20Mills/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Royal%20Arsenal,%20B.10%20Southern%20Blocks%20WB%20WSI%20(1).PDF   and  file:///C:/Users/Mary%20Mills/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Proposed%20Excavation%20rev4%20140219%20(1).pdf


AND ………………….

GIHS had an e-mail from someone who was concerned that gutta percha decoration around the door of Enderby House had disappeared.  But no - the leaves were a feature on the building adjacent to Enderby House which unfortunately has been demolished by the developer. Gutta Percha was the substance used successfully as an insulator on early under water cables.


Enderby House itself is supposed to be a pub opens by Youngs.  Something seems to have impeded the pub opening and we look forward to try and find out what it is and making sure that Youngs include the correct historical information when it is fitted out.


The Greenwich Archive Users Forum have published their third newsletter and this can be obtained from e.pearcey@gmail.com,


Can anyone help with this enquiry??

"I am looking for any information relating to Wakeley Brothers of Otterham Quay, Rainham,Kent nd their barges They had offices at Honduras wharf in London. 
I would like to find an image of a Wakeley barge in full sail advertising their 'Famous Hop Manure’. 



↧
↧

Siemens - whales - Enderby - underground - George Elliott

May 20, 2019, 1:41 am
$
0
0

Apologies for not putting it out earlier but have been working flat out on the new book which we hope to get out in time for the Greenwich Book Festival.   It’s going to be a rerun of ‘Greenwich Marsh’ but with 20 years more information.  Keep in touch

We have a ‘help help’ call from a member who has been asked to do some research on the Siemens site which is currently being developed.  He says “I cannot get access to the Siemens engineering archive ……………. so if any members of the GIHS have a particular interest in Siemens Brothers during the period of the report I would be grateful for any assistance they could give me in my research’.

This is of course because the Heritage Centre and archive are closed –so much for promises of access !!

-------------------------------------

We have had a copy of the latest issue of the ‘Dockyards’ which is the newsletter of the Royal Dockyards Association. Of course this covers dockyards all round the world so it’s not all about Deptford and Woolwich. 


There is a report on a walk round Woolwich to see the remnants the Dockyard and the Arsenal. They comment that many of the older buildings are dwarfed by new blocks of flats.  They also note how disappointing it is to see the Greenwich Heritage Centre has closed and they have made representations to the Council about this – complaining that the proposed site at Anchor and Hope Lane is too remote to get to easily and will only be available for five years

There is also report of a meeting which we didn’t report on at the time – and probably should have done - which was ‘Hidden Deptford’. This was an event at St. Nicholas Church and 'Dockyards' Editor says how astonished he was to see such an amazing number of people in the audience.   The first speaker was David Davies, author of 'Pepys Ships' and also 'Kings of the Sea'.  He talked about the foundation of the Dockyards because it was easy it was to get there from Whitehall and the Tower of London as well as the Palace in Greenwich. The Thames was central for shipbuilding because in the 17th century the amount of warfare in the North Sea and how Deptford and Woolwich became research and development yards. By the 19th century the area was less accessible for large the naval ships.  He was followed by Richard Edensor talking about the women of Restoration Deptford – an iron contractor in Susan Beckford and Ann Pearson is a rat catcher/ he also talked about Deptford shipwright John Shish. There was also a series of folk songs by the South East London Folk Orchestra and then another talk about the proposed built building of the Lenox.

Naval Dockyards Society has put out a call for papers for their Conference on the 4th of April, 2020 at the National Maritime Museum.  This is to be called ‘Where Empires Collide.  Dockyards and Naval Bases in and around the Indian Ocean.’  Details available from the Society and proposals should be sent before the 30th of October 2019 to Philip McDougal (details from me)

-----------------------------------------

Thank you to Sue Allen for sending a copy of an article about Sir George Elliot’s - he is the man who is half of the firm of Glass Elliot who were largely responsible for setting up cable manufacture at Enderby Wharf.   The article is taken from Journal of the Gelligaer Local History Appreciation Society and is by Professor Bernard Knight. It gives details of the life and career of Sir George.  He describes how George began as the son of a collier in Newcastle and whose first job was at the age of nine working in the coal mine. A friend of the family taught and arithmetic and he later attended night classes. At the mine his engineering and financial talents led him to become a consultant and manager and he leased and eventually owned other collieries. He became a major industrialists and important politician – a close friend of the Prime Minister, Disraeli, and ended up with the sixth richest man in England.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------


We have a copy of ‘Subterranea’ the Journal of Subterranea Britannica

I’m sorry to see in it an obituary to Harry Pearman who has come to speak to GIHS in the past about his research of all things underground for which he was well known. The obituary, by Paul Sowan, mentions that in his professional life Harry was an IT specialist and that he worked ‘for other local authorities’. This was in fact London Online Local Authorities which was based in Greenwich in John Harrison House which was demolished for the new University of Greenwich Architects Department buildings in Stockwell Street.  This was an extremely interesting and very unusual local government body. It was a consortium of local authorities, which included Greenwich, set up at a time when most of the population had never heard of computers - in the early 1960s.  We take for granted today the use of computers for things like working out rates payments and payroll –  but in those days a lot of what they had to do was just to try and explain to suspicious and disbelieving  Council Officers what it was about.  They were remarkable for having one of the first ever business computers – a Leo – which originated with Lyons Tea Shop company. No one worldwide had thought of using computers in business until Lyons did it and they had to make their own machines. This was revolutionary albeit it used paper tape and had no random access. Harry was a leading member of the team.

While Harry was at John Harrison House he added in a considerable amount of underground research in Greenwich which was published in the Journals of the Chelsea Speleological society in the 1960s. These articles have formed a basis which other researchers on underground Greenwich have followed up on. Harry’s initial research has been crucial in understanding what lies underground in Greenwich.
And very sorry to hear he has died.

-------------------------------------------------

London and the Whaling Trade.  We have at last received the report on a conference held in 2013 about London and the whaling industry which includes two articles of interest to Greenwich historians.

One of them is by Charles Payton – ‘the Enderby family and their World’.  This is a very impressive article about the background of Enderby family over several generations.  It asks the question throughout of where did the family get their money from which allowed them to afford to run the very large fleet f whaling vessel and sponsor the explorers.  The article tracks three generations and their links with other businesses particularly with people in the Americas. Towards the end he also talks about their use of various chemicals and links with various chemical companies - I had also realised this and was very interested to see his comments on Kyan’s timber preservation work as well his work with naphtha on rubber for rope and cable manufacture. It’s a great article and please read it.


Another article is by Kevin Reilly and Guy Thompson about the ‘Bay Wharf whale and some early Thames strandings’.  It is about the whale skeleton found at Bay Wharf buried in the foreshore which is thought to be from the 17th century. They also established that it was killed there. I am sorry that the article doesn’t include Chris Ellmers very amusing talk - which he gave at the Conference -about 17th century pamphlets on stranded Whales. Perhaps we should be pleased to say our latest whale at Gravesend seems to have swum off unharmed. 


↧

FOND MEMORIES OF TUNNEL AVENUE

May 27, 2019, 11:19 pm
$
0
0

FOND MEMORIES OF TUNNEL AVENUE
1947 – 1954


I will always remember January 1947 in Tunnel Avenue, East Greenwich for several reasons. One was that it was my fourth birthday which also coincided with my family moving from an upstairs single bedroom flat with no bathroom into a wonderful three-bedroom house in Tunnel Avenue. Not only did I get lovely birthday presents but I got my own room to sleep in and a bathroom rather than an old tin tub in front of the fire. Our new home also had the luxury of hot water supplied by a coke fired back boiler which leads me to another memory of the winter of 1947.



About a week after we moved into Tunnel Avenue one of the coldest winters on record hit the country resulting in freezing conditions and massive demands on all types of fuel including coke. This therefore affected the heating in our house as we needed coke to keep the boiler running. My vivid recollection of that time is standing next to my mother with my baby brother in his pram queuing in the extreme cold.We had walked the length of Tunnel Avenue from the Fire Station at the top end down to the gas works which was close to the approach to Blackwall Tunnel. When we arrived, we stood for ages in line alongside the brick wall surrounding the gas works waiting to buy the coke which we either took back on the pram or possibly had it delivered. All I mainly remember is that it was a miserable experience especially as we did not have a car to make the journey but had to walk in the extreme weather. Thank fully the winter finished and we then spent several great years in the house in Tunnel Avenue.


My father was very ingenious and provided us with a magnificent view of the Metropolitan Gas Board sports ground which was located directly behind our back garden. Shortly after we moved in he removed the old wooden fence at the bottom of the garden.  Our favourite pastime was watching the cricket matches as the wicket was right in our line of sight. Except of course when the sight screen was moved across thus blocking our view of the proceedings. Thankfully this didn’t happen very often. Many happy summer days were spent watching cricket or the exciting athletics events that also took place.





Unfortunately, when the flyover was built to improve the road connections to Blackwall Tunnel it resulted in the end of the greenery of the sports ground and beyond to be replaced by modern retail and leisure outlets. However, that happened many years after we left. My memories will always be of the wonderful view across to the river where the old Thames sailing barges would often be seen plying their trade. Their red/brown sails could regularly be seen moving majestically up and down the major thoroughfare.Sadly, this sight has gone now however I can still picture it in my mind even now.



Just opposite our house in Tunnel Avenue was the East Greenwich depot of the British Oxygen Company (BOC). There BOC kept a large supply of gas cylinders which were distributed to customers around the local area. We could hear the clanking of cylinders being shifted around the depot or loaded on and off the delivery lorries. During one night in the early 1950’s there was a massive explosion at the depot. Luckily houses in the vicinity were not badly damaged and the nearest fire station was only a matter of yards away at the top of Tunnel Avenue. Therefore, the resulting fire could be tackled very quickly.


The sound of the explosion was heard miles away and broke windows in houses at Blackheath. It made headline news at the time. Of course, my family like others were all woken up by the incident    except for me.  Even though my bedroom was at the front of the house I had slept soundly through the whole thing. Something my parents were absolutely amazed at. Not only was there the sound of the explosion but all the bells and noise from fire engines, ambulances and police cars which attended the scene. Unfortunately, I believe several people were injured in the blast and that there were some fatalities.



One of the most famous methods of transport then were London trams which had been operating since Victorian times. However, the modern needs were overtaking the ageing system as the tramcars had changed little since the service had begun.


Tram tracks were laid in the middle of roads and passengers had to walk from the pavement to get on the tram. Car production was increasing and drivers wanted to drive more freely in the cities. Instead of updating the infrastructure to cater for this it was decided to close the tram system down and replace it with diesel buses. Under ‘Operation Tramaway’ which started in 1950,trams were being phased out and the last tram in London ran on 6th July 1952. It started in Woolwich and terminated at New Cross Depot. As a young lad I stood at the bottom of Halstow Road and waved to the last passengers who were on the last tram to run in London. I can still picture that memorable sight with all the banners hanging off the sides of the tram and everyone cheering.



June 1953, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place and in November a Royal Tour commenced which continued throughout the Commonwealth. In May 1954 the new Royal Yacht Britannia sailed up the Thames bringing the Queen, Prince Philip and their children back to UK. Tunnel Glucose had built a brand-new office suite which overlooked the River Thames. To celebrate the Queen’s homecoming the company invited the staff and their families to witness this historical event. On the day my parents, my brother and I were dressed in our Sunday best and journeyed down to the factory. By that time my father had acquired his second car. This being a new Ford Popular which replaced the old 1930’s Morris.


Unlike our trips down Tunnel Avenue in the bleak winter of 1947, we travelled in comfort and style to arrive ready and waiting for the Royal Yacht. I can remember well the excellent spread of food and drink that had been laid on by the company for all the families to enjoy. The room we were in I guess was the Board Room which had a large window that gave us all an excellent view of the river. As we were on the second floor, we could look out and see the Royal family standing and waving on the deck of Britannia. The Royal Yacht passed by very slowly and everyone was waving and cheering.

Compared with the first time I had seen the Queen in person it was a much more pleasurable experince. The previous time was when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were travelling across Blackheath. All the local school children were herded up to the heath and lined the main road close to the entrance to Greenwich Park. It was a hot summers day and we waited there for what seemed like hours. Then along came the Royal procession in their large cars. Unlike the slow-moving Royal Yacht, the cars sped past at a fast speed and it was over in a flash. We had seen the Queen but only a quick glance. Therefore, the much better memory was the wonderful time we all spent watching the majestic vessel sedately carrying the Queen and the Royal Family up the Thamestowards Tower Bridge.





 Later that year we moved out of our house in Tunnel Avenue and left London for a new life in Wiltshire which saddened me very much.I will always cherish my time growing up in East Greenwich, SE10.


Graham McDougal

26thMay 2019








↧

June 11th meeting - what is happening

June 8, 2019, 12:42 pm
$
0
0
GIHS MEETING 11TH JUNE


OUR June meeting will not be in the Bakehouse at Age Exchange but in the Studio.  Go get there we have been told to go into the front door of Age Exchange shop in Blackheath Village and someone will tell us where to go.  We start at 7.30.

The speakers will be

11th June.Tracy Stringfelllow & Charlie MacKeith. on Jacobean Vistas and public conveniences. 

in addition we have a short talk by Julian Kingston on the current initiative on the Lenox Project.

See you all there


↧

All sorts of news and reviews

June 12, 2019, 4:39 am
$
0
0


LAST NIGHT -   Thanks to everyone who came to the Greenwich Industrial History Meeting last night and in particular thanks to Tracy Stringfellow and Charlie MacKeith who were the speakers.  Age Exchange, where we’ve met for the last 20 years, had a flood and we ended up in the garden house at the back of the Railway Pub in the pouring rain.  One lady had fallen and hurt herself - she went home and (I don’t know her name) but best wishes to her from all of us.  Thanks too to Steve who stood for nearly an hour in the rain telling people where the meeting was being held, as they arrived

It was a completely amazing talk from Charlie about Charlton House and the garden building - which has been used as toilets for many years. He was very interesting about all the work done on it and about the light it throws on to Charlton House itself and why it was built.  If you are a local history society - book him at once!

-------------------------------

We are aware of local disquiet on the issue of the railway bridge at Plumstead Station. Please Plumstead people as you have now finished Making Merry can somebody send me a note which I can publish here about what is going on?
https://www.change.org/p/network-rail-south-east-save-our-station-history-plumstead?recruiter=39955197&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard&fbclid=IwAR1gzuxk9TkT8diJkCQ7hVDZa1YEEaT-L9QMrQDVQZDgcbu-2OlZYt2NsbM

------------------------------

There are also a crowd funding appeal from the Deptford based Lenox Project for a visitor centre to showcase the area's shipbuilding heritage  https://www.spacehive.com/thelenoxproject

-------------------------

A lot of newsletters and so on have come in since I last did this blog -so please read it - sorry but there is rather a lot of it. 

Woolwich Antiquarians Newsletter.   As ever this regular newsletter is full of interesting information.

They report on a meeting on Woolwich Women at War by Steve Hookins. This was about women of all sorts who worked in the Arsenal in the Great War- some called ‘Munitionettes’. Of course the women were thrown out when the war ended.  His sounds like a very lively report and the speaker great fun as well as informative

They also note another speaker on Recovery of the Tidal Thames and its Fisheries. Again this sounds very interesting going from when the Thames was declared biologically dead in 1957 to the present day. The speaker, Steve Colclough, described the whole process of degeneration of the Thames and the work done now, including the fish survey. The Thames is now an example of European best practice.

They also report on local conservation issues including Woolwich Town centre conservation – reminding me that we have still heard nothing about getting a blue plaque on the old Woolwich Labour Party Building.  Must get something done.

---------------------------

Docklands History Group. They report on a meeting held in May about Lascars in Shadwell by John Seed. I remember Lascars when I lived in Gravesend as a child where Asian seamen would be seen wandering the streets having come from ships docked in Tilbury. John Seed described their lives in East London in the early 19th century.

----------------------

GLIAS Newsletter .  

The June newsletter is full of news of their 50th anniversary plans which include a celebratory meal to be held in October. In the Newsletter they are running articles on ‘themes’ relevant to the anniversary.  They start with reminiscences of industrial archaeology evening classes which inevitably feature Denis Smith’s famous evening classes at Goldsmiths in the 1970s and go on with many subsequent classes by Denis. Bob Carr’s numerous evening classes also get a mention in one line – and none of the others are mentioned at all

There is an item on London windmills which includes the Plumstead Windmill pub. 

Graham Dolan’s lecture on Greenwich observatory and the London County Council Tramways Power Station is mentioned and someone has written in with details from the Southern Railway minutes about their problems with the Observatory. This is a quotation from 1923 about correspondence between the Chair of the Railway Company and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport about removal of the magnetic instruments from the Observatory and the money which the railway had to pay towards this.

A book review of Jim Lewis’s new book on the Enfield Small Arms factory mentions its origins in Lewisham at the Armoury Mill

------------------------

The Crossness Engines Record. The spring/summer edition begins with a wonderful selection of pictures from their birthday party for Sir Joseph Bazalgette. There is a large picture of the cake with his picture on it and others show guests like our Greenwich Mayor enjoying themselves at the event. There is also a poem by John Richmond to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Joseph Bazalgette’s birth.

The Record includes news – one of their members is making little wooden owls for sale - there is a report on the RANG railway which will run from along to Bazalgette Way and its receipt of money from a crowd funding projects - there is a report on asbestos problems and how this has now been overcome, much of it has been already removed – and there is an article on the history of the Crossness School which was for the children of the workers at Crossness.

All good stuff


-------------------------------

Greenwich Society Newsletter.  The society has taken to having historical of articles which I am personally very pleased about. The May June Edition has an article by Peter Van der Merwe on the Painted Hall and how it has been used, and the various restorations and works done on it since its inception. Along with that is a notice about the K2 chronometer which Captain Bligh and took on the Bounty in 1787. This is also by Peter van de Merwe

The other article is by me on the warship, Warrior, and how it was built just across the river at Bow Creek and the various contributions made by Greenwich workers to it.

There is also a brief note about Williams the Pirate in response to the article about gibbets on the Greenwich Peninsula by Pieter in the last edition.

-----------------------------

Journal of the Greenwich Historical Society 2019. The leading article is 'Mr. Spurgeon Magic Lantern'by Anthony Cross.  This is about the various photographs taken in the 1880s in Greenwich by Charles Spurgeon. They are obviously posed but nevertheless very interesting as is Tony’s article about them.

There is also a very important article on the Trafalgar Tavern by John Bold which describes its building and use in great detail. Another article consists of accounts of National Service by a number of well-known local individuals - including Peter Kent and several others. There is also an obituary to Darrel Spurgeon who of course was a member of GIHS and who wrote a series of guides to various parts of our local area

Finally we should appreciate the high quality of production of this booklet.  This is down to Rob Powell and it is an immensely impressive publication. 

---------------------------

Industrial Archaeology News. This includes an article by me about George Landmann, the Royal Engineer who built the Greenwich railway and gives a bit of biographical information about him. I've always felt that strongly that Landmann is never mentioned in works on railway engineers although what he did with the Greenwich Railway in particular was ground breaking.

This edition also includes an article by Bob Carr 'On the Origin of Tall Industrial Chimneys'.  I am very aware that Bob has been looking all over the place for evidence of early chimney building. He mentions a numberof chimneys  in Woolwich and includes the two built in the Dockyard in the early 1840s, and says that there were others in the Arsenal.  So, all of you people who are researching the Arsenal - Bob would be very interested in anything about chimney design and construction you might have come across.

There is also quite a bit of news about Crossness Engines.  They note that planning permission has been given by Bexley Council for the installation narrow gauge railway and modification of an existing building for use as depot facilities. They also note the need for track and sleepers and so on.
there is also an article about the Bazalgette party and some details of the work being done at Crossness – which course would not be familiar to people from outside our area who would read IA News..

--------------------------------

And while I’m blowing my own trumpet – do people see the articles which I have been doing fortnightly in the Greenwich Weekender? The current one is about the Turkish ferries built on the Greenwich Peninsula by Maudslay Son and Field . One of them, built in 1871, was still in use in the late 1990s

-----------------------

Forthcoming meetings – these are garnered from all the different newsletters I’ve got here:

19th GLIAS Walk 6.30 Medicine and More. Free. Meet Henry VII Gate, Bart’s Hospital Smithfield,
22nd June. Royal Greenwich Big Band and Eltham Hill Steel Pans. Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
22nd June. Thames Barge Match Gravesend  www.boatingonthethames .co.uk
23rd June Countrypolitan Band Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
23rd June Low Tide Walk through Deptford Creek. 11-1 pm Creekside Discovery Centre, 14 Creekside
23rd June Crossness Public Steaming 10.30-4 pm  Bazalgette Way, Abbey Wood
23rd June House Mill Guided Tour. £4 11-4 Three Mill Lane, Bromley by Bow (behind Tesco)
27th June The Great North Wood Project. Friends of Oxleas Woodlands. Shrewsbury House. 7.30 pm
30th June Here to Havana. Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
30th June House Mill Guided Tour. £4 11-4 Three Mill Lane, Bromley by Bow (behind Tesco)
3rd July Chris Ellmers. A Very Very Naughty Boy. Docklands History Group. 5.30 Museum of London Docklands West India Quay Hertsmere Road.  £2
6th July. Jim Marrett. Royal Greenwich. Four World War 1 VC’s.    Woolwich Antiquarians Charlton house 2.00 pm
6th July GLIAS Walk 2.30 Dartford. Tickets from walks@glias.org.uk 
7th July KIX Jazz Orchestra Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
7th July House Mill Guided Tour. £4 11-4 Three Mill Lane, Bromley by Bow (behind Tesco)
7th June Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries Open Day. 11-4 pm
8th July. Art and Architecture of Calcutta. Dr John Stevens. Arts Society. Greenwich University, Old Royal Naval College, King William Court,  7.15 £10
9th July. Cricket Match. Greenwich Society v. Blackheath Society. Rangers Field, Greenwich Park.6.00 pm
11th July. Development of the Thames Tideway.  Harpinder Birdi.  London Museum of Water and Steam, Kew Bridge. Tickets £5. From www.waterandsteam.org.uk
14th July Heroes Band Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
14th July House Mill Guided Tour. £4 11-4 Three Mill Lane, Bromley by Bow (behind Tesco)
17th July 19th GLIAS Walk 6.30 Tower Bridge to Rotherhithe. Free. Meet Riverside, City Hall
20th July. Restoring Urban Rivers. Charlton Society. Charlton House  2.30
21st July Meantime Band Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
28th July South London jazz orchestra and Live Band Lindy, Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
29th July House Mill Guided Tour. £4 11-4 Three Mill Lane, Bromley by Bow (behind Tesco)
29, 30, 31st July South East London Wool and Textile Festival. Woodlands Farm 11-4 pm
3rd August GLIAS Walk 2.30 Rickmansworth. Tickets from walks@glias.org.uk 
4th August Silver Ghosts. Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
11th August Shadey scandals. Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
18th August The Old Jelly Rollers. Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
25th August Greenwich Concert Band. Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
26th August Galaxy Big Band Greenwich Park Bandstand 3 pm
7th September GLIAS Walk 2.30 Camden Housing. Tickets from walks@glias.org.uk 
5th October GLIAS Walk 2.30 City Geology. Tickets from walks@glias.org.uk 
12th October. Pearly Kings and Queens. Clive Bennett and Gwen Jones.  Woolwich Antiquarians Charlton House 2.00 pm
9th November. The Conflict Archaeology of Woolwich. Andy Brockman.  Woolwich Antiquarians.  Charlton House 2 pm

And
12th GREENWICH ANNUALE. Exhibition of photographs by members of the Greenwich group of London Independent Photography 17th June to 30th June. Greenwich Gallery, Peyton Place, Royal Hill, Greenwich, SE10. Open weekdays 9.30am -5.00pm, Saturday & Sunday 1.00pm - 5.00pm.

↧
↧

Diana Rimel

July 7, 2019, 10:11 am
$
0
0

GIHS is sorry to learn that Diana Rimel has died.  She was oneof the true local historians of Greenwich.  Diana had been associated with GIHS from the start, had contributed a number of articles to both the newsletter and this blog and has also come to speak to us on a number of occasions.


Diana began her working life as a secretary (didn't we all) and attended the London School of Economics as a mature student in 1970 for a history degree.  Later she set up a number of historical groups and organisations throughout the area mainly in association with Goldsmiths College. Some of them became independent historical groups - survivors include the Mycenae House Local History Group and another is the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe History Group.  She also wrote for a number of magazines and newspapers - including our local Kentish Mercury and for a number of others. In particular she was involved with the Ashburnham Triangle Association, and its newsletter, She also published a book in 1994 about the Ashburnham Triangle Conservation Area. She also identified the local architect, Dinwiddy, and highlighted much of his work.

She will be greatly missed

Her family are compiling a tribute board for her and asking people and to share memories of her or send photographs.  Her daughters are on d.arctic@outlook.com. Donations in her memory to the Friends of Severndroog Castle. htpps://www.severndroogcastle.org.uk/donate.html. Her funeral is on 18th July 12.15 Eltham Crematorium.
↧

This and that and Plumstead Station

July 7, 2019, 10:26 pm
$
0
0

There is a petition out on Plumstead Station:
“Network Rail South East: Save Our Station (History) - Plumstead - Sign the Petition! http://chng.it/xy4X2py5  via @UKChange”

The background to this is explained on the Facebook Plumstead People page  https://www.facebook.com/groups/PlumsteadPeople/permalink/2842405889166134/
and this has been copied at the bottom of this posting.  So - see below.

***

Meanwhile - What else has come in?

A number of people have pointed out to us  information from the the pan European heritage organisation, EuropaNostra, with reference to their endangered sites programme and the possibility of referring our poor gas holder to it. It's probably much too late to save the gas holder now -  although we are still hoping that some elements from can be kept.  However, I am putting below are some details from Europe Nostra web site. newsletter@europanostra.org


"Call for Nominations - the 7 Most Endangered 2020 - Deadline extended to 1st August 2019. Most Endangered Programme: Apply Now 

"If you know of an important heritage site in Europe that is endangered – such as a historic monument or archaeological site, a place of worship, an industrial complex, a historic park, a museum or a movable heritage asset – why not nominate it for the 7 Most Endangered programme 2020?  
The Most Endangered programme identifies threatened monuments and sites in Europe and mobilises public and private partners - on a local, national and European level - to find a viable future for those sites. It is not a funding programme. Its aim is to serve as a catalyst for action.  
Europa Nostra, the leading European heritage network, runs this programme in partnership with the European Investment Bank Institute and with the support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.  You can nominate a heritage site with the support of an organisation in your country that is a member of Europa Nostra or directly by joining our pan-European network of member and associate organisations.  
The 7 Most Endangered heritage sites in Europe for 2020 will be announced in March 2020.  It is only with your help that we can save our shared heritage treasures! Submit your nomination by 1 August 2019 (deadline extended).

EUROPA NOSTRA The Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe  |  La Voix du patrimoine culturel en Europe. Headquarters Lange Voorhout 35, 2514 EC The Hague, The Netherlands | +31 70 302 40 50 | info@europanostra.org .With the support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union"


And better get in fast before Boris junks any chance we get of being part of the programme 

***


London Railway Record. The July 2019 number has a colour feature on  Woolwich Line signal boxes. These are pictures taken in the 1960s by Terry Tracy and covers boxes from Woolwich Arsenal to Slade Green. 
It begins with Woolcwich Station signal box which dated from 1906 and continues with Abbey Wood, Belvedere  Crabtree Crossing, Erith, North End and Slade Green.  The photographs are interesting and with each one are details of the box, its purpose and its eventual fate.

***


Links is produced by the Newcomen Sciety and the cover of the June 2019 issue features a porcelain pot with a picture of our East Greenwich gas holder reproduced on it.  Inside an article describes how all techniques from the past have been used up by  potters is today and cites the work of Raewyn Harrisom who has produced these pots showing the East Greenwich Gas holder.  Hopefully we can get in touch with Raewyn  and find out more about her work and why she picked the holder as a decorative item

***

Appleby Engineers

Appleby were a major engineering firm based on the Greenwich Peninsula and elsewhere in the late 19thcentury.  We have had speakers at GIHS on Appleby ands a short article about them in the Greenwich Society Newsletter last year led to a great deal of interest from local people. Research on Appleby has been undertaken by  John Steeds and he ill has been in touch with us recently about some questions from the Museum at Goulburn in Australia where some Appleby engines are preserved, He has sent us the following information which he has sent to  hem

"One of the questions you asked me was where the castings for the Goulburn beam pump were manufactured. Whilst I cannot be certain, I now think that there is a very good chance that they came from the Haslam Foundry and Engineering Company in Derby.  This was also known as the Union Foundry. I have recently discovered that Charles James Appleby was a director of A.S.Haslam and Co. in Derby.

I had thought that I had found details of all of the various Appleby works, in both Leicester and London.  Because of a couple of references I had long suspected that there may also have been another works in Derby, but despite a lot of hunting, and various other experts telling me that I was mistaken, I had rather given up the hunt.   However, I have recently found an article telling me that Charles Appleby was made one of the six directors of the newly re-formed Engineering    and Ironfounding  business of “A.S.Haslam and Co” working at the Union Foundry in Derby.

On 13 Dec 1876 Alfred Searle Haslam resurrected his old company, as a new company, and was joined by 5 new directors. In addition to A.S. Haslam,and C.J.Appleby the other new directors were Edmund A Pontiflex, John Barton and William Henry Ashwell – all clearly Engineers of some distinction, as I have been able to find details of their various careers and Joseph Jessop who had connection with Appleby Brothers.   Initially Haslam’s specialised in heavy and hydraulic machinery but then came ship refrigeration.   Appleby Brothers intention was to send as much of their heavy work as possible to Derby - and I guess that this probably included the castings for the Goulburn Beam Pump. Also, the 1882 date of the pump is relatively soon after the date that the Applebys became involved in the Derby Works.

Mr Alfred Haslam became very successful in the production of refrigeration for ships for the movement of meat from the other side of the world. This he patented in the early 1880’s and he monopolised the industry until the mid 1890’s. In addition to refrigeration of ships he supplied refrigeration to docks, hospitals and hotels. He was so successful that he was knighted by Queen Victoria and became Mayor of Derby.

I am still trying to find more information about the Derby production.  As a part of your researches, have you found any reference to the Haslam Union Foundry?

and John has asked us: "I would really like to find out how long Charles James Appleby and Joseph Jessop remained Directors of A.S.Haslam and Co.   Do you know of any directories etc. where this information may be found?"

***


Here is the detail for the Plumstead station petition


Save Our Station History! Network Rail are mandated to provide accessibility to all train stations; this is a good thing! Destroying local history and ignoring the local community is not! I am petitioning Network Rail to reconsider their plans, re-visit the very attractive alternative proposals suggested last year (from Positive Plumstead Project - https://www.facebook.com/pppse18/and respect Plumstead. 

Step Free Access for all London Stations, especially Plumstead (SE18) is welcome however not at any cost. Network Rail proposes installing an “off the peg” footbridge and lift shafts, directly from the station building. which will mean demolishing the historic bridge and replacing it with a massive modern box structure. It should be noted, that the station was built in 1859, not just to cater for the area’s rapidly expanding population and Royal Arsenal workforce, but so that materials could be transported to and from the Arsenal via the famous “Hole in the Wall”. Evidence of this use still remains at the station. Its importance to the history of the Arsenal should not be underestimated. Furthermore, the Greenwich Line was the first in London. The only original stations surviving are Greenwich, Westcombe Park and Plumstead – presenting three different styles.

During the Area Planning Meeting Network Rail refused to consider the following points; 1) The current layout presents pinch-points, which are problematic at busy times. Network Rail’s plans will exacerbate the problem rather than solve it.
(Alternative plans suggested by Community Action Group Positive Plumstead Project would create two ways to enter/exit the platforms. Indeed, this will be of particular  benefit to people living in Glyndon, for instance.)

Network Rail’s plan will mean the demolition of the 1892 iron lattice footbridge, the removal and replacement of the attractive brick steps, also dating from 1892, damage to the attractive 1892 section of the building, removal of part of an 1892 canopy and removal of a crenellated section of the original 1859 station. The crenellations (repeated over the Sam’s Coffee sign) are mirrored on nearby buildings, creating (in heritage lingo) group value and a sense of place. 
(Alternative plans suggested by Community Action Group Positive Plumstead Project would mean that all of the original features, of this charming Victorian Station, will be retained.) 

Network Rail intends to install an unsightly, “off the peg” footbridge close to Plumstead Bridge, at a height that will blight an area earmarked for a “makeover”. Indeed, the Area Planning Committee gave this very reason for its previous refusal. Network Rail has notably failed to address this issue by sticking to its original designs.
(Alternative plans suggested by Community Action Group Positive Plumstead Project proposal would move the bridge further along the track, westwards, so that the station can continue to tie together the Victorian elements of local architecture, rather than the eye being drawn to the current proposal.)

Concerns have been raised around fear of crime and anti-social behaviour in relation to enclosed bridges and covered stairs, citing experiences of the new footbridge at Church Manor Way as an example.
(Alternative plans suggested by Community Action Group Positive Plumstead Project suggest ideally the bridge be made of glass, which is less obtrusive and less likely to attract crime and anti-social behaviour than one that is mostly opaque.)

The station will have to be closed, for some considerable period, for the works proposed by Network Rail, to be carried out.
(Alternative plans suggested by Community Action Group Positive Plumstead Project mean extended closure will be unnecessary.)

The Network Rail plans, by their admission, are the more expensive. 
(So £££ cannot be sued as an excuse to dismiss this.)

Network Rail proposal  received absolutely zero formal submissions of support. 83 people, however objected.
(So local support cannot be cited as a reason to go ahead.)

Network Rail coerced the Area Planning Committee into accepting its lazy, one size fits all proposal, by using emotional blackmail, ignoring requests and reneging on an arrangement for a site visit to explore alternative ideas. Previously, Network Rail endeavoured to protect attractive stations, by locating such additions separately, albeit that these tended to be in more affluent areas. Under the Access for All programme, however, they are applying a one size fits all approach. 

Network Rail is relying on a very old law (dating back, even, to before the creation of the station itself) which means that it can build and demolish whatever it likes within and close to its property. Which means ignoring local community voices.

Recently in Charlton SE7 Network Rail, due to local public pressure, were made to change their minds in shutting an important access crossing, please sign and hare this to get them to change their minds and Save Our Station (History!)*



↧
Search

Belated news - but anyway its summer

August 17, 2019, 10:06 am
$
0
0

I have been very trmiss not sending some of this off earlier,.   I ought to send it out on the day it comes in! Hwever here is the digest of what has been in the post recently -  keep on to the end there is some important stuff there

Woolwich Antiquarians Newsetter

They note the following dates
9th November Andy Brockman on The Conflict Archaeology of Woolwich. 2 pm Charlton House
4 September.  Richard Buchanan  on Street Furniture. Orpington and District Archaeological Society, Christ Church to Tudor Way, Petts Wood 8 pm
14th September. Charlton Society 50 years. 2 pm Charlton House

Among other items the Newsletter notes use of the Tram Shed in Woolwich. The point out that it was built as an electricity substation using mains driven motors directly coupled to generators to provide the DC supply needed by the trams.

Shrewsbury House. There are concerns about a World War II building converted for use as a house known as Green Garth.  The Community Centre is keen to use  this building since it is designed in bomb resistant reinforced concrete and is thus sound proofed. It also has a good hall for art displays.  They are hoping to get heritage funding.

They also report on the current state of the Avery Hill Winter Garden  which belong to Greenwich  University who would like to sell. Apparently an understanding has been reached with the council

Cruise liner Terminal site - they report that Morgan Stanley have sold the land to Criterion Capital

There is an article about a suite of Astragraphic telescopes - meaning that modern digital is used to generate viewable output. It is to be named after Annie Maunder who was called 'a computer' when she worked there in the 1890s. Some details are given of her life.


Lewisham Local History Society Newsletter

They lead with a obituary to Diana Rimmel whose death we reported earlier in this blog. It includes tributes from Julian Watson and John King

They give some information about Frederick Lanchester who designed the heavy bomber ansd who was apparently born in Lewisham.

In answer to a query they mention the Whitbread bottling plant which was on what is now the Tesco site and the only remaining building there called Eagle House. The Anchor Brewery occupied the site from 1818 and in 1870 built Eagle House but it was bought by Whitbreads in 1984

They advertise meetings
27 September. Women’s Suffrage Movement in Lewisham and working-class campaigners with Jill Mountford
25th October. Lewishams' listed theatre at Catford Broadway by Carmel O’Connor
29th November Leaves from Literary Lewisham by Malcolm Bacchus
They don’t say where the meetings are but I guess they are at the Methodist Church at Albion Road at 7:30

GLIAS Newsletter

They advertise meetings and walks
7th September Camden housing led by John Goodier
5th October City Geology led by Alan Wheeler
email walks@glias.com to book

They hope that newsletters during this year which is their anniversary year will be themed:
in October people asked to contribute about GLIAS  coach trips; in December about the GLIAS Recording Group in February walks and conferences

An article on Greenwich and Woolwich ferries includes the new ferry vessels from Poland which are currently being an embarrassment on the old Woolwich ferry route. It also gives some details of the Greenwich steam ferry which operated in the 1880s at what was later known as Wood Wharf.

GREENWICH SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

This has an article by Pieter Van der Merwe on the Tudor and earlier jetty remains found on the foreshore off the Five Foot Walk in Greenwich and exposed by the  emergency repairs to the river wall . He also mentions the Friars Wharf in the same area.

LABOUR HERITAGE NEWSLETTER

This includes some interesting information about Woolwich and Greenwich in a packed newsletter. It is by John Laxton who I remember well as having done and very noticeable dissertation on Woolwich Labour Party in the 1970s. This article talks about the growth of the Party in Woolwich and saysntht by 1901 the Liberal Association there had ceased to function. A Progressive Association was formed and the Woolwich Trades Council said that the Parliamentary  Candidate had to get a pledge to join the Independently Labour Party members in Parliament. Will Crooks was chosen and fought a by-election in 1903 as the Labour candidate winning with a majority of over 3000. John points out the strength of local trade uniona and that the engineers in Woolwich had 2000 members. The Labour Representation Committee formed in Woolwich was organised it what was to hecome the universal pattern for constituency Labour parties.


LOCAL PLANNING SITE ALLOCATIONS

We have had a letter to the Planning Department of the council about the site allocations consultation and local plan preferred approach. Hopefully local groups will read the huge amount of material sent out on this and keep us in touch with their views on all those old industrial sites.  Info on the Council web site under 'Consultations'.








. 


↧

Bad News

October 2, 2019, 4:37 am
$
0
0



Bad News




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
People may also have heard of the deaths over the past 10 days of Sue Bullivant (who was still our Chair - despite her long illness) and Steve Daly (our Treasurer). 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



and also

there are more notes on the GIHS Facebook page


↧
↧

The Siemens Brothers Works Bird’s Eye View Artist

October 6, 2019, 2:24 am
$
0
0

The Siemens Brothers Works Bird’s Eye View Artist

By Stewart Ash

During the 1920s, a talented amateur artist, Edmund William Neale, who was a Siemens Brothers employee throughout his working life, created a series of exquisite line drawings, depicting the Siemens Brothers Works, seen from the air above the River Thames.  Though signed none of these drawings are dated but from the buildings in the drawings and other records we can be certain that they depict the Works in c.1918-20, 1924-25 and June 1927. In addition, Neale also produced an impression of what the site may have looked like, when it was first acquired by theSiemens brothers,in 1863.It is almost certain that the originals of these wonderful drawings no longer exist, but they have been captured for posterity in high quality photographs and the pages of the company magazine.  So,what do we know about theman who produced these outstanding works of art?
Edmund was born on 16 May 1895, the youngest surviving child of George Thomas Neale (b.1871 and Mary Ann nėe King (b.1867).  They had married at St James’ in Woolwich on 13 March 1891 and their eldest daughter, Ann Martha (1891-1935), was born six months later, followed by a son Thomas (b.1894). In 1901, the Neales were living in Woolwich at 17 Nadine Street, with Mary Ann’s younger brother, Edmund King, and other members of her family, a household of ten in a two-up-two-down terraced house. George was working as a spice packer and Edmund King was a dock worker. 
Over the next few years Mary Ann had two more children, but they both died in infancy. In 1909, Edmund Neale left school and started work at the Siemens Brothers factory in Woolwich.  By 1911, the Neale family was living at 725 Woolwich Road, just a mile to the west of the Siemens Brothers factory.  George was the head of the household,  which then comprised the Neale family together with eleven-year-old Frederick Daly, a nephew, and 33-year-old James King as a boarder.  George was now going by his second name, Thomas, and was a General Labourer in the Spice Trade, while Ann Martha was a sewing machinist making shirts. Thomas was working as an office boy in a dockyard, and James was a chemical labourer at a paint manufacturer.  Edmund’s profession is given in the census as ‘Electrical Labourer’, working on ‘electrical batteries’.  It is possible that Edmund started on his first ‘Bird’s Eye View; of the Works during the First World War.  Whether or not he was commissioned by the company to do it, is unknown.  Photographs of this drawing can be found in Siemens Brothers presentation photo albums that show scenes from the factory in the 1920’s


Edmund’s older brother, Thomas, died in 1920 and Edmund married Mary Ann McCarthy, in April 1922; there was one child from the union, Kathleen, born in January 1926, but she appears to have died young. 
The next version of Edmunds Bird’s Eye View appears as part of the banner headline to the First edition of the company magazine in June 1925.  By then factory buildings had been erected,to the west of Hardens Manorway.  The Siemens Brothers Magazine was published between June 1925 and the company centenary in 1958. For the majority of that time this banner was used.

Banner of the First Siemens Brothers Magazine
Edmund probably also created the line drawing of Faraday (2) in the banner.  She replaced Faraday (1)in 1924 and can be seen at anchor at the Works in the full version of this drawing, dating the drawing to c. 1924-25.  Copies of this exist as high-quality photos and were used as small souvenir albums sold or presented by the company.


 E Neal Drawing with Faraday (2)c.1924-25

From January to June 1927, the Siemens Brothers Magazine ran a series of six articles entitled ‘An Outline of the Company History’ and, in the February edition, Edmund’s impression of what the site may have looked like in 1863 appeared.

The Original Siemens Brothers Site in 1863, by E Neale c 1927
An extract from the article states
‘From information supplied by some of the veterans among our colleagues, who still remember the old days quite vividly, Mr. Neale has been able to produce the accompanying sketch.’ We may almost regard Mr. Neale as official recorder of bird’s eye views of the works.’
In the final article in this series, the last known version of Edmund’s drawing appears with the caption ‘The Works Present Day’.


The Siemens Brothers Works by E Neale June 1927

Tragically, Edmund’s wife died in April 1929. and on 13 October 1935, his sister, Ann Martha, passed away.  In the 1937 electoral roll, Edmund is found living at 516 Woolwich Road, with his mother and father.  This was a large detached house about half a mile to the west of the Siemens Brothers works, in which rooms were rented to Siemens Brothers employees. Edmund’s mother died two years later, in April 1938. 

In the 1939 Register, taken on 29 September, Edmund and his father are still living at 516 Woolwich Road, and George is stated as being a ‘Stoker retired’ while Edmund is given as a ‘Cable Worker’.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the River Thames at 24 Winifred Street in North Woolwich lived 38-year-old Jessie Bramley.  Her profession was given as ‘Assistant Cook’ and she gave her marital status as married.

Jessie was born on 6 February 1901 at 27 Corinthian Road, West Street in Erith, Kent, on 20 January 1901 and baptised Jessie Victoria Low. Her father was Frederick George Low, a general labourer and coal porter. Her mother, Annie, had had 9 children by 1911, two of whom died young. It appears that Jessie’s father did not hold down a regular job and the family moved from one rented accommodation to another.  This can be seen through the birthplaces of their children in the 1901 and 1911 censuses. 1892: Rainham, Essex; 1896: Canning Town; 1900: Erith, Kent, before they moved in 1910 to 56 Claremont Street, North Woolwich.

In October 1921, Jessie married Thomas Bramley. Thomas was born in Bethnal Green in 1897, the only son of Thomas Bramley, a Blacksmith Wheelwright, and his wife, Elizabeth.  Thomas Junior left school at the age of 14 to work as a Van Boy. There were two children from this marriage, Enos Frederick, born July 1922 and Olive Matilda, born October 1924.  From then on, Jessie’s life can be followed through the Electoral Rolls. In 1929, the couple lived at 164 Elizabeth Street in North Woolwich.  However, from 1930 until at least 1934 she was residing at that address, without her husband.  In 1937, Jessie was at 24 Winifred Street, North Woolwich, again without Thomas.  Living next door, at No. 26, was a Lionel Neale and his wife, Julia.  In the 1939 Register, Lionel Neale’s profession is given ‘Cable Maker – Lead Coverer’.  Whether or not he was related to Edmund, or worked for Siemens Brothers, is unknown, but both seem possible.

During the war years there are no records of Edmund or Jessie; however, her daughter, Olive, married Ronald James O’Donnell in Portsmouth in October 1941.  Ronald was in the Royal Navy and it is probable that Olive was evacuated to Portsmouth, as they lived close to the docks in North Woolwich. Jessie’s son, Enos, joined the RAF and, as a Flight Sergeant, he died in Valetta Southern Harbour on 9 July 1943.  He is buried there.

After the war, Jessie and Edmund’s stories come together and they can again be followed through the Electoral Rolls.  In 1945, Jessie, her daughter Olive O’Donnell, and George and Edmund Neale were all at 516 Woolwich Road.  They were joined at that address by Ronald in 1947, after his discharge from the Royal Navy.  It does not appear that Olive and Ronald had any children. 

Edmund’s father, George, died in March 1949 aged 77, and was buried in Greenwich Cemetery on 29 March 1949. From 1950 to 1951, Edmund, Jessie, Olive and Ronald continued to live at 516 Woolwich Road.  On 22 March 1952, Jessie, then aged 51, married Edmund, aged 55, at Greenwich Registry Office. Jessie’s marital ‘Condition’ was given as ‘Formerly the wife of Thomas Bramley from whom she obtained a Divorce’.  They gave their professions as ’Electrical Solderer’ and ‘Machine Cable Hand (Electrical)’, respectively, almost certainly both working at Siemens Brothers.

From 1952 to 1958, mother and daughter with their husbands lived at 516 Woolwich Road then in 1959, they moved to 134 Admaston Road, Plumstead.  In 1960, Edmund would have been 65 and Jessie 60, so they probably both retired that year and would have had to give up their rooms in 516 Woolwich Road.

Edmund died intestate on 24 October 1966 and was cremated at Greenwich Crematorium on 4 November.  Olive died in January 1979; once again there is no record of a will or probate. Jessie outlived her daughter and died in May 1990, again without leaving a will. Ronald died in February 1997, and once again there is no will or probate registered for him.

If anyone can add any further information about the life of this exceptional amateur artists or can provide a photograph of him and Jessie it would be most appreciated.

↧

Meeting on Tuesday

October 13, 2019, 3:31 am
$
0
0
This is to remind you about the GIHS meeting on 15th at the Bakehouse.  You are going to have me, Mary Mills, talking about thw wider picture of Greenwich industry and how it could be turned into a  book.  I am afraid Mr. Waller who was advertised to give a talk this week pulled out and is now down for April.

Members will be aware that in the last couple fo weeks we have lost Sue Bullivant  - who was still our Chair although she had been ill for some time. and also our Treasurer Steve Daly who died very suddenly

We have now the dates of the funerals :
Steve Daly - is 17th October. 3.30 at Eltham Crematorium. Reception after at Shooters Hill Golf Club
Sue Bullivant - is 1st November 1.30 Plumstead Cemetery, Wickham Lane.  Reception after at Woodlands Farm

I am not sure who our members actually are because Steve had the membership lists and of those I do know I don't know some addresses - so please circulate this if you can. I hope however that we can hold a General Meeting in January to sort things out - and please think very carefully because Steve undertook a number of roles amd I and Andrew Bullivant can't do everything!

↧

The Woolwich Navy

October 21, 2019, 4:42 am
$
0
0

THE WOOLWICH NAVY

This extract is taken from London Ship Types, by Frank C.Bowen published 1938 by the East Ham Echo



The units of the 'Woolwich Navy' which is maintained by the War Office with its headquarters at Woolwich Arsenal are among the very familiar sights of the River but most people know very little about them.   For one thing their flag is difficult to identify, a Blue Ensign, defaced by gold guns which is not included in most popular books on flags, and, for another thing although they are painted black with a buff funnel and a black top, they do not carry their names painted on their bows like ordinary merchant ships but man of war fashion in very small letters on the stern which are generally difficult to read.  As most of them are built on the lines of coasting cargoe steamers or motor vessels and are quite small the average Londoner who encounters them on the River is quite content to put them down as coasters and leave them at that, although really they deserve much more attention.

The War Office which in the old days controlled the Ordnance Department  which supplied guns and ammunition to the Navy as well as the Army has maintained a fleet sorts from time immemorial.  Not the only had guns and ammunition to be carried round the various forts and naval bases along the coast, but transport and storeships proceeding abroad had to be loaded at whatever port they were using as a base and on the London River itself a large fleet of sailing barges carried ammunition from the various factories to the arsenals, the magazine’s at such places as Purfleet and forts, rifle ranges and gunnery experimental stations in the lower reaches.  These barges, it may be mentioned, were among the best built on the River and several of them have been converted into first class cruising yachts.

In addition to this transporting work the War Office was for many years after the American Civil War had proved the potency of the submarine mine, in charge of all the mining defences of the country, for the Navy regarded the mine as an ungentlemanly weapon and would have nothing to do with it as long as possible.  The Royal Engineers therefore had charge of a larger number of submarine mining vessels of about 80 tuns displacement, each of which were stationed at various points along the coast and which periodically caused interest and considerable confusion by practising mining and counter mining in or alongside of commercial waterways.  It was not until the turn of the century that the Navy took seriously to mining and even so it was quite unprepared for the pitch of perfection which the German Navy had brought that arm to by 1914.

The War Department fleet has nothing to do with mining nowadays it is very busy on the transporting side.  Guns and ammunition from Woolwich Arsenal make the principle and most picturesque cargo and there are always two or three of the ships alongside the various piers and jetties on the riverfront.  Sometimes the run is only down to the gunnery stations on the Isle of Grain or at Shoeburyness; sometimes it may be round the posts which Britain still maintains in Southern Ireland, or to the coast defence fortifications anywhere round Britain.  The large variety of their duties which include the movement of stores, food and occasionally troops as well as amunition and the towing of targets for the gunnery practice of the coastal forts, necessitates a very wide range of types including dumb and motor barges,tugs and vessels very much akin to yachts. 

They are manned by an entirely separate service, the personnel generally being entered as boys and promoted through the various ranks of Ordinary Seaman, AB, Second Mate and Mate to Captain, whole below deck the grades are, Fireman, Leading Hand and Driver.  They wear a uniform of sorts and although the discipline is not be compared with either the Army or the Navy they are generally men of a very superior steady type who have a good job and who look after it well.  Pensions have only been introduced in a comparatively recent years for the officers

Of the many types which are including the fleet the steamer SIR EVEYLN WOOD - must of the vessels are named after famous generals or battles - must be taken as she has been well-known on the River for over 40 years.  She was built by Fleming and Ferguson of Paisley in 1896, a steel screw steamer on the laines of a superior coaster.   Her dimensions are 160 feet by 24 feet by 14 feet depth of hold and as a large part of her work was the csarriage of big guns she was given exceptionally heavy scantlings which perhaps accounts for her long life.  On trial as a new ship she averaged  a speed of ten knots and she still working at about nine which is a fine tribute to her original construction and the way she has been maintained by the Army.  During her long life she has carried every conceivable article that can be required by the troops , from ordinance to food and on many occasions she has also been used for transporting bodies of men over short distances
↧
Viewing all 561 articles
Browse latest View live
Search